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Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesCHIRP Radio Movie Collection: 24 Hour Party People (2002)
[The CHIRP Radio Movie Collection documents great movies that feature musicians or the use of music in storytelling.]
The Plot: The rise and fall of Factory Records, told through the eyes of label founder, Manchester booster, and (depending on who you ask) overall scoundrel Tony Wilson
There’s a story about the history of Rock music that’s almost certainly apocryphal but is too good to not use: Only a couple of hundred people ever saw the Velvet Underground perform live, but every single one of them went on to form their own bands. This brief anecdote highlights the power music has over people, a power that remains explainable more by magic than science.
It’s this magic of discovery and creation and being part of a scene that’s captured brilliantly in 24 Hour Party People, the story of how local TV presenter Tony Wilson helped briefly turn the city of Manchester into the center of the music world with his label Factory Records. Director Michael Winterbottom starts the film with a VU-eque sequence - in this case, a late ‘70s Sex Pistols show with about a dozen people in the audience. Wilson, the narrator, scans the room and points out a few of the not-yet-known individuals in attendance: The young woman over there with the wild hair would soon be known as Siouxie Sioux of Siouxie and the Banshees. The curly-haired dude off to the side would become the lead singer for Simply Red. And the three intense-looking young men in the back? They would start a band called Joy Division, and in doing so change the course of music history.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTop Five Songs the Republicans Could Use for Their Convention
So far, the 2016 Republican Party National convention in Cleveland has been, to borrow a phrase from Jay and Silent Bob, “clown shoes.” Failed insurrections. Plagiarized keynote speeches. Guest appearances by Scott Flippin’ Baio.
Now it’s been revealed that the band Queen would rather the GOP not use their song “We Are the Champions” as soon-to-be nominee Donald Trump’s entrance music. Just another in a long line of artists and bands who do not want their music associated with this particular party.
What would be some appropriate music to use for this occasion? In the spirit of bipartisanship, I want to help. So here are some suggestions based on what I've seen and heard and read about the state of the GOP these last few months, with an important caveat to whoever it is running operations for the convention - YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET PERMISSION FIRST.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesThis Week at CHIRP Radio (Week of July 18)
Upcoming Events
- CHIRP Radio presents the latest edition of the First Time Series “First Taste” at Martyrs’ on Thursday, July 21st
- Kickstand Productions and CHIRP Radio present The Coathangers at Beat Kitchen on Saturday July 23rd
- CHIRP Radio will be at Wicker Park Fest on Saturday July 23rd Sunday July 24th
- CHIRP Radio will be at the next edition of Classic Album Sundays, featuring Massive Attack's 1998 record Mezzanine, at Saturday Audio Exchange on Sunday, July 24th
New Media
- First Time - First Deal by Tamale Sepp
- Will Koch examines how music makes mood in the 2014 horror film “It Follows”
- Friday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Trevor Horn edition
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Trevor Horn Edition
[photo by The Times UK]
The UK newspaper The Times named him “The Man Who Invented the ‘80s.” Looking at his accomplishments as a musician and producer, it’s not hard to see why Trevor Horn fits that description. US music listeners probably know him best as the lead singer of the Buggles, whose song “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first video ever played on MTV and about as close as anything to being the starting signal for the ascendance of video pop culture. That is just one chapter in a prolific career. In addition to being a founding member of The Art of Noise and producer of one of the greatest synth-pop albums ever made (ABC’s The Lexicon of Love), here’s 10 other artists and bands he’s performed with and/or produced: Paul McCartney, Cher, Yes, Grace Jones, Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Genesis, Belle & Sebastian. You get the idea. It’s Mr. Horn’s birthday today - play the MP3 shuffle to celebrate. Take your MP3 player, press the “shuffle” button, and share the first 10 songs you hear...
William Lennon writesCHIRP Radio Movie Collection: It Follows (2014)
[The CHIRP Radio Movie Collection documents great movies that feature musicians or the use of music in storytelling.]
The Plot: After being drugged and assaulted, a young woman is stalked by a shape shifting killer.
The story is simple by design. A mild-mannered community college student (Jay, brought to life by Maika Monroe in an exquisitely understated performance) goes out on a date. She’s drugged, and wakes up bound to a chair in an old parking garage. Her date, now her captor, informs her that she’s been infected-from now on, she’ll be hunted by an unknown, malicious force.
The only cure is to extend the chain of betrayal a step further and pass the infection on to someone else. Her pursuer (who we’ll call “The Follower”) is amorphous-it can look like anyone, so despite the fact that it takes several actors to portray its many faces, the one who brings it to life the most memorably and consistently is the composer, Rich Vreeland, AKA Disasterpiece.